Thursday, August 13, 2015

The internet is full of rage. Visit any forum, message board, or public social media that isn't strictly regulated and within a few minutes of browsing you're certain to stumble on a heated argument over something inconsequential. While it's difficult to find an accurate metric, it sometimes feels that video games attract an abnormally high level of vitriol; maybe it's because of the demographics or that games inherently spark a competitive instinct that translates to internet flame wars. Recently, I've been playing a lot of Heroes of the Storm which is a relatively new MOBA (a genre infamous for it's high levels of player toxicity) and have witnessed abuse lobbied over every facet of the game. I don't know why the Heroes of the Storm community is so salty but, with a few hundred hours of play time, I've noticed some patterns to the rage and wanted to explore if this anger is ever justified.